Jennifer Preissel

'As I got to be more experienced, I drew back and saw that students understood more when I would give them some space to work.'

Angela has been teaching Spanish for two decades, but she says she's just starting to learn how important it is to make students believe in themselves.

Samantha teaches eighth grade English and history in the Bronx. She says the hardest part of teaching is that she can never fully turn off when she's at home.

Arun teaches 7th graders at a middle school in Brooklyn. He incorporates social justice themes into his lessons to get kids thinking about how they can make change.

"The test is really discriminatory, and it’s not fair. I don’t think the people who make the test understand that the content is discriminatory."

"Real teacher preparation comes from working with experienced educators. That has gone to the wayside and there is now so much emphasis on passing tests."

"It's tough to see parents break down in front of you. They want what is best for their child but they don't want them to leave the protection of somewhere they have been for so long."

"It's a really wonderful place to be."

"Also, as a child, I wanted to be four things: president, major league baseball player—teacher was fourth—but third was to run a deli in New York City."

"I looked around and I didn't see a lot of black men teaching. I want to take on that mantle because I see that people can't be what they can't see."

"I rapidly saw that so many of the problems we have in the school system are actually workplace problems—they are problems of capitalism."

"So many inner-city kids who go to public schools, they don't see beyond the block."